10. The right to be heard!
Society is becoming increasingly aware of the valueof youth consultation in promoting democracy, yetlittle effort is being made to really listen to the teens
who will be most impacted by the GDPR. And what of
the rights of parents, who should be free to protect
and guide their offspring in the way they see most fit(Articles 3, 4 and 5 of the UNCRC)?

Have your say in
our teens’ future!

Go tohttps://www.facebook.com/GDPRhaveyoursay/
Your input will help convince national and EU policy
makers that there are better solutions.

GeneralData ProtectionRegulation
Have your say!

Contact
Janice.Richardson@insight2act.net orYorick.vanHouts@insight2act.net
ANPRI - Associação Nacional de Professores de Informática
AP2SI - Associação Portuguesa para a Promoção da Segurança daInformação
APF - Associação de Professores de Filosofia
Associação D3 - Defesa dos Direitos Digitais
Aventura Social
CIAC - Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação
CIJIC - Centro de Investigação Jurídica do Ciberespaço da Faculdade deDireito de Lisboa
CNIPE - Confederação Nacional Independente de Pais e Encarregadosde Educação
CNTI - Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology InstituteCONFAP - Confederação Nacional das Associações de Pais
Cyberethics
Dream Teens
EPA - European Parents’ Association
EU Kids Online Portugal
Insight - Education to Empower
Instituto de Apoio à Criança
InternetSegura.pt
MiudosSegurosNa.Net
NCBI - Národní Centrum Bezpečnějšího Internetu
Ora De Net
PantallasAmigas
RadioActive101 – Portugal
Safenet.bg
SaferInternet.gr
SaferInternet.pl
Safer Internet Centre Nederland
Salvati Copiii - Save the Children Romania
Sociedade Portuguesa de Medicina do Adolescente
SoMe - Right
Suradnici u Učenju
Telefono Azzurro
The Diana AwardEmpower
our children,
safeguard
their rights!

10 REASONS

why teens shouldn’t
need parental consent
to access informationsociety services

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will
come into force in all EU member states by May 2018.
Article 8 of this Regulation will require “children” underage 16 to obtain parental consent before accessing
information society services. It nevertheless alsostates: Member States may provide by law for a lower
age for those purposes provided that such lower age is
not below 13 years.
The GDPR will have a far-reaching impact on teens
across Europe, and runs the risk of depriving them of theright to integrate the information society of today and/or letting them enter it without the necessary digitalskills and media literacy which are crucial to becoming
active citizens in the world of tomorrow. Shouldn’t webe encouraging more public debate to hear what they –and their parents and educators – have to say?
Here are 10 reasons why we think all caring citizens
should raise their voice to avoid young people (and theirparents) being stripped of several of their fundamental
rights. Share your thoughts with us at:https://www.facebook.com/GDPRhaveyoursay/

1. Respecting Children’s Rights
The United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is
generally acknowledged as the universal charter of children’s rights
and responsibilities. Article 13 states that children should be freeto access and share information, and exercise freedom of thought,
conscience and religion whilst nevertheless being protected fromradical and false information (Article 14). It underlines their rights tomeet and join groups, and their responsibility to respect the rights,
freedoms and reputations of others (Article 15). Surely there must
be more effective, teen-friendly means to safeguard these rightsand responsibilities than gating internet access through parental
consent, especially since young people usually have a better technicalknowledge of information services than their parents. How would
teens have reacted a couple of generations ago if they had needed
their parents’ permission to choose a library book or meet their friends?

2. Let’s listen to the developmental researchers
Why keep teens reliant on their parents’ consent, when researchshows us that by the time they reach age 13, they are usually quite
adept at reasoning. Around this age, most have reached the stageof formal operational reasoning, having been guided by parents andteachers to build up enough knowledge and action-based learning to
make viable decisions.

3. Autonomy – an essential part of growing up
Being given a reasonable level of autonomy around age 13 is apredictor of both the quality of a person’s future relationships andhis or her ability to manage autonomy and relationship challenges
across different social domains in adulthood. Autonomy is developedby empowering our children, not limiting their choices.

4. Balancing risks and opportunities
Internet offers an open window to the world and to broad-ranging
opportunities. The more opportunities teens benefit from, thegreater their resilience to potential risks.

5. Narrowing the digital divide
Article 8 would bring about a far-reaching effect for teens whoseparents refuse to give consent, ostracizing them from classmatesand putting them at greater risk if they choose to lie about theirage instead. And what about young people who have (legally) beenbuilding their profiles, channels, vlogs or even product lines sinceage 13 – will they have to delete their work?

6. Inclusion opportunities or cultural
discrimination?
Schools play an important role in guiding children and teens in thesafe and responsible use of information society tools and platforms
such as social media. If all parents in a school class don’t provide
their consent, teachers will be in a very fragile position, balancing
between depriving a minority of important opportunities anddepriving the majority so as not to discriminate against the few.

7. Paving the way to 21st century literacy
As society is increasingly using social media to disseminate
important information, digital platforms play an integral role inhelping tomorrow’s citizens develop the literacy skills they needto play an active role in society.

8. “Global” citizenship bound by national borders
If one country applies a different age of consent than anothercountry, teens subject to the higher age will fall behind simply
because of where they live. This would perpetuate unequal
opportunity and widen digital divides across national borders.

9. Eurocrat, bureaucrat or hypocrite?
Article 8 may require companies to collect more information onteens than they otherwise would – for example, location. This
contradicts the GDPR declared objectives to protect children’s
private data and keep data collection to a minimum. How hypocriteis that?